


Homecoming

by Cinnamon68



Category: Holby City
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 01:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8557072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamon68/pseuds/Cinnamon68
Summary: Bernie decides it's time to return to Holby.  Featuring indecision, angst, recriminations, guilt, and eventually joy and happiness.  With helpful hints and guidance from their friends, along the way!





	

 

Berenice Griselda Wolfe, eminent trauma specialist, lately of Holby City Hospital, and currently trauma surgeon at the newly formed Kiev Trauma Unit, finished her reports and looked up from her desk. The new unit was running well and the team of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals had all come together and were working as if the unit had always been here. The other consultant who had been here on secondment, a trauma specialist from Berlin, had returned last week as their work here was done, so why was she still here? The sheer, blind panic she had felt when the thought of returning to Holby and, if she were honest, Serena, had led her to ask if she could stay longer. Of course the unit had jumped at the chance of keeping her for a while longer, and so here she was after another long day of patching people up. It was a job that kept her busy, and left no time for dwelling on what she had left behind.

 

Signing off her last report of the day, Bernie gathered her things and left the unit. She wondered whether she should go to the bar across the road. She knew that some members of the day shift would be there downing shots of vodka, to chase away the horrors of the day. Looking up at the night sky she decided to go straight back to her flat. Flat was a rather grand name for the accommodation she had been allocated. Bernie had never been one who cared much about her living arrangements. They were just a place to lay her head. Dumping her bags on the floor, she pulled out her laptop and booted it up as she opened a bottle of shiraz that she had picked up a few weeks ago. Normally a white wine drinker, Bernie had become accustomed to the taste of that particular red, by her association with a certain Serena Campbell. Bernie shook her head. It would not do to think of Serena at all. The whole purpose of being here, staying here, was so she didn't have to think about her, or of the hurt she would cause if they began a relationship. She would protect Serena by keeping away, so she could not hurt the woman she lov-, _no 'cared about',_ she corrected. Pouring herself a glass of the wine, she retreated to the bed and logged into her e-mails. There, right at the top, was a message from the woman she had just been thinking about. Bernie sighed, reaching out and touching the screen sliding her index finger along the header, ' _What Next…?'_ , as if she might be touching the woman herself. She closed her eyes and allowed the images of their last kiss to play out in her mind. _'Serena…'_ she gasped as the full force of her feelings crashed into her. ' _What the hell have I done?_ _'_

 

Bernie stared at the screen for a few moments, the decided not to open the e-mail. She transferred it to a folder she had labelled, 'For later.' _Much later..._ adding an e-mail from Henrik Hanssen and another one from Jenny Walsh the ICU sister with whom she'd struck up a friendship during her late night visits to critical care, during Fletch's recovery. The army reservist had a way of making Bernie open up that quite frankly scared her to death. She didn't want to open up, to feel vulnerable. There were now more than a few e-mails, standing unopened in this folder, mainly from Jenny, a few from Hanssen, one from Jason, and now one from Serena. She concentrated on opening all her other e-mails, laughing at one from Liza, the German trauma specialist who had just returned to her family in Berlin, after her secondment. Unlike Bernie, although she had enjoyed her time in the Ukraine, Liza had been desperate to return home to her husband and two daughters. The family had not spent much time apart before, and Bernie could see the strain it had caused. She wondered if it would be different if she were still married to Marcus, and she would have been desperate to return home. She smiled as she looked at the photos Liza had attached of her and her husband and their two teenage daughters, Analiese and Ava. Liza said she was happy to be back home, but hoped they would meet again. She offered Bernie a place to stay, if she were ever in Berlin. As Bernie was composing a reply, a new e-mail announced itself. She raised her eyebrows as she saw it was from Ric. _What was Ric Griffin doing, writing to her?_ She contemplated transferring it to the 'For later' folder, but as she was hovering over the e-mail it opened, so she took a deep breath and started to read.

 

_Dear Ms. Wolfe,_

_I hope this e-mail finds you well. Please forgive me for writing to you, but you may or may not have heard that, after recent events, I am now acting CEO of Holby City NHS Trust. In this capacity I am writing to remind you that you have a contract with Holby City Hospital and I would be grateful if you could let me know when you plan to return? I understand that your secondment has finished and that you have_ elected _to stay, a request which was reluctantly granted by Mr Hanssen. Unfortunately, recent events mean that we could very much do with your return. If you do not wish to return, I would be most grateful if you could tender your resignation, in writing, at your earliest convenience. I, and the board, would still expect you to work your three month notice period, to give us adequate time to find a suitable replacement._

_I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter._

_Kind Regards,_

_Ric_

_Eric Griffin_

_Acting CEO_

_Holby City Hospital_

 

 _Wow!_ Bernie thought as she read the e-mail again. She could just see Ric, with steam coming out of his ears, sat at his desk composing this. It was basically a summons home. An ultimatum, _Come back, or else! Or else what,_ she thought _. You'll fire me?_ They would probably have a case for not fulfilling her contract. _Christ! What am I to do? Appeal to Ric? “Sorry, Ric, I can't come back. You see Serena and I... what? aren't speaking?, can't work together anymore?”_ She knew Ric and Serena were friendly, and wondered if Serena had confided in him at all. She cou l d just picture the two of them in Albie's, over a drink, sharing confidences. She wondered if Ric had followed up with Francoise. It was obvious there was an attraction between the two of them. _Just as there is between Serena and I,_ a fact Bernie would rather ignore, than do anything about. Sighing, she wondered just what Ric meant by ' _recent events'_. Maybe if she had read all the e-mails she had received, she would know. Guiltily, Bernie opened the folder and stared at the unread e-mails. She opened the one from Jason first, as this was the one she felt most guilty for not opening.

 

_Dear Dr Bernie, (Bernie smiled at the name Jason had graced her with)_

_I was not sure about contacting you, as you seem to have left in a hurry, and I think you do not want to speak to people. I understand. I am perplexed and I miss you, because sometimes Auntie Serena doesn't understand things like you do and I do not understand Auntie Serena. She has been extra grumpy of late. She says it is because she needs more coffee, but I asked if there was a national shortage of coffee and she said not. I asked Mr Di Lucca and Dr Digby and they said she's angry because you went away, and that is why she is grumpy. I have also heard people talking about you, saying you and Auntie Serena were kissing. Do you kiss girls now? I asked Auntie Serena, but she didn't answer me, so I don't know if it is true. I am very puzzled by these events, and I hope you will return soon, so you can explain it to me. Also so that Auntie Serena may be less grumpy._

_Best wishes,_

_Jason_

 

Bernie felt even more guilty, she had never stopped to consider the consequences of her actions, just run as far and as fast as she could in the opposite direction. _Poor Jason, must be bewildered. All because you couldn't face Serena telling her how she felt. Oh, God!_ Quickly she read the other e-mails. The ones from Hanssen, initially asking how she was getting on, and then explaining that whilst he was granting the request for her to stay in Kiev, at the request of the Ukrainian Hospital, he was sorry she had not felt she could ask him directly. The last one spoke of him stepping down, and going on extended 'Gardening Leave', which explained why Ric was now acting CEO. _What on Earth had been going on_ _since she left?_ The ones from Jenny were friendly and chatty, initially, but then a little shorter and terse as she hadn't replied. She read the last one and it felt like a punch to the gut.

 

_Dear Bernie,_

_I suppose it's possible my e-mails just aren't getting through. I had thought you would have replied to at least one of them if you'd read them. You asked me to keep an eye on Serena, when you left, which I have done, and if you'd been reading my previous e-mails you would know that t he woman is_ falling apart _, Bernie! Obviously she is very skilled at hiding it, but she is, for want of a better word, grumpy all the time. I haven't seen Serena like this before. I doubt she's been in touch with you; her pride will be her downfall, and as she is the talk of the rumour mill since the little scene with you on your departure, she is finding it very hard. The woman is clearly in love with you, and I know you are with her. Please don't try to deny it; I've seen the way you look at her, the way you two are together, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I understand that your secondment has ended, so Bernie, please come home, not least because of your personal feelings for Serena, but also because she needs an ally, as does Ric. Hanssen has pretty much been forced out, the new board are out for blood, particularly Tristan Wood. I can't explain it very well in an e-mail, but if you come home I'll be able to explain everything._

_Hoping to see you soon. I miss our coffee and chats. Who else can I bore with Army tales?!_

_Love,_

_Jen, x_

 

 _Ping,_ another e-mail, from Sacha this time. Another from Raf, and yet more from Morven, Lou, and Dom. All of them had the same message. _Come home, now._ She read them all with a growing sense of horror. _Oh, Serena. What have I done? I'm so sorry._ Tears ran down her cheeks as she finally opened up the e-mail from Serena. Three little sentences, that was all.

 

_I'm tired of being angry. It's time to come back . The hospital needs you._

 

She hadn't signed it, just sent it, as was.

 

Bernie stared at the words on the screen. It was more than she deserved, but she'd hoped for more. Again, she ran her index finger against the screen of her laptop, following the words. She imagined Serena sitting at her desk in their office. Yes, ' _their office', that was where she belonged, back at Holby with Serena and the team around her. Not here in this strange, cold land. Her work here was done. Time to go back._

 

With sudden resolve, she looked at the clock, realised it was only 8pm, and not to late to call Pyotr, the CEO of the new hospital, and let him know that she wanted to return to the UK.

 

Pyotr was a little unhappy at her decision, but as he had just heard from a surgeon that he had been wanting to come for months that she would in fact join them, he was prepared to let Bernie go, at the end of the month, if she wished.

 

“Wow!” Bernie's head was reeling. “I thought you'd want more notice than that!”

 

“Well, normally I would; but Mr Hanssen only reluctantly allowed your extension, and said I was to discourage you from staying on!” Pyotr replied in his perfect English. “Besides I have finally persuaded Anastasia to come and work for us. She's starting next week.”

 

“That's fantastic, Pyotr!” Bernie enthused, knowing how much Pyotr had wanted the native Ukrainian to join them. He had explained to Bernie that they had parted on bad terms after a break-up, and he wasn't sure she would come back. In the end he said, it was the shiny new unit, with all the fabulous equipment that had tempted her, not him.

 

“We must put personal feelings aside and work together for the good of the hospital and community.”

 

Bernie wondered what it would be like working with Serena now. _Will she be able to forgive me?_ was Bernie's overwhelming thought. She knew she would have to go back; had always known. Until now she had just buried her head in the sand and pretended she didn't. She didn't want to think about Holby, or Serena. _What you did to Serena,_ you mean. Bernie was a past master at compartmentalising her life. _Everything in little boxes, never meeting._ Now she knew she would have to go back and face whatever was in store for her. Her head still in a spin, Bernie began composing an e-mail to Ric.

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
